Horse twitch

ABSTRACT

A device comprising two hinged arms with a retaining strap at their free ends adapted to be applied to the nose of a horse or other animal to temporarily restrain said animal.

2/1903 Friesen 119/96 United States Patent 1 1 3,747,569

Hannon 1 July 24, 1973 [54] HORSE TWITCH 761,926 6/1904 Van Loghem119/96 [76] In entor: Paul Halmon, C 1- l,l66,708 1/1916 Murray 119/96[22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1972 Primary Examiner-Russell R. Kinsey AssistantExaminer J. N. Eskovitz [2]] Appl- 229270 AttofneyRaymond R. Kimpel [52]US. Cl. 119/96 [51] Int. Cl A0lk 29/00 [57] ABSTRACT 58 Field of Search119/96 A device comprising two hinged arms with a retaining strap attheir free ends adapted to be applied to the 5 References Cited nose ofa'horse or other animal to temporarily restrain UNITED STATES PATENTSammal- 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures Patented July 24, 1973 3,747,569

noass TWITCII This invention relates to new and useful improvements indevices for subduing animals commonly referred to as twitches."

It is an object of this invention to provide a device which can bequickly and readily applied to the mouth or lip of an animal to subduethe animal to the extent that he can be controlled while working with orupon the animal. It is another object of this invention to provide sucha device which will remain in place but will not cut, abrade or injurethe-animal in any way but will nevertheless allow the animal to becontrolled. A further object of this invention is to provide such adevice which is simple to construct and inexpensive to manufacture.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from an inspectionof the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general view showing the twitch in position on a horse, and

FIG. 2 is a general view showing the twitch.

In the practice of this invention there is provided two distinct arms 12and 13 which are joined at one extremity by a connecting means 14. Thearms 12 and 13 are constructed of a rigid tubular material preferably ofan aluminum alloy of high strength with smooth surface. The arms mayalso be constructed of solid rods of cylindrical cross-section, theselection of the materials used being a matter of choice limited only bythe requirement that sufficient rigidity be maintained. In the preferredembodiment, solid aluminum alloy rods are used and at one extremity saidrods are flattened so that the two arms 12 and 13 can be pivotallyjoined by a connector 14. At the opposite end of arm 13 there is aretaining strap 16 adapted to be received onto the end of arm 13. Saidretaining strap 16 has a plurality of apertures 17. At the end of arm 12opposite to its connector end there is a retaining hook 15 which isadapted to engage one of the apertures 17 in the retaining strap 16.Said hook 15 has an outward curvature so that when the twitch is appliedto the nose or the upper lip of a horse the pressure outwardly againstthe arms 12 and 13 serves to maintain the engagement between theretaining hook 15 and the retaining strap 16. At the same time thetwitch may be readily and quickly removed from the horse by a sharp pullon the retaining strap 16 so that the retaining hook 15 is disengagedfrom the aperture 17. By selecting the proper aperture 17 it will beseen that the proper degree of pressure can be applied to the horsesnose or lip to subdue or restrain each individual animal.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my inventionit will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes inthe details of construction and choice of materials'could be madewithout departing from the sphere and scope of the invention as claimed'in the. appended claim:

I claim:

1. A horse twitch comprising two substantially parallel arms ofcylindrical cross section curved at one end thereof and pivotallyconnected by connecting means, a retaining strap at the other end of oneof said arms, said retaining strap being of aresilient material having aplurality of apertures therein in lateral spaced relation, a retaininghook at the other end of said other arm adapted to engage selectivelyone of said apertures, said retaining hook being pointed on the endthereof and deflected outwardly away from said'first parallel arm andcurved so as to engage one of said apertures and tend to remain soengaged upon pressure being applied between said parallel arms andoutwardly therefrom, said retaining strap having a cylindrical wallformed on the end thereof opposite said apertures adapted tofrictionally receive said second parallel arm.

- II t

1. A horse twitch comprising two substantially parallel arms ofcylindrical cross section curved at one end thereof and pivotallyconnected by connecting means, a retaining strap at the other end of oneof said arms, said retaining strap being of a resilient material havinga plurality of apertures therein in lateral spaced relation, a retaininghook at the other end of said other arm adapted to engage selectivelyone of said apertures, said retaining hook being pointed on the endthereof and deflected outwardly away from said first parallel arm andcurved so as to engage one of said apertureS and tend to remain soengaged upon pressure being applied between said parallel arms andoutwardly therefrom, said retaining strap having a cylindrical wallformed on the end thereof opposite said apertures adapted tofrictionally receive said second parallel arm.